Research and education network PIONIER adds ADVA ROADM technology

ADVA Optical Networking says that the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC), which owns and manages the Polish research and education network PIONIER, have asked the company to install its ADVA FSP 3000 to bring ROADM technology to the network.

PIONIER, which comprises more than 6,500 km of dark fiber, is part of the nationwide Polish Optical Internet initiative. It connects supercomputing centers in Poznan, Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Krakow, as well as 21 academic metropolitan-area networks. Overall, the network provides high-speed connectivity to nearly 1,000 organizations throughout Poland.

ADVA Optical Networking has supplied optical transport technology for the network for some time (see, for example, “ADVA extends Poland's PIONIER optical fiber network”). Most recently, PSNC was looking to add the ability to quickly and easily set up new services on the fiber-optic network, which is designed to support data rates of 100 Gbps and beyond. The new directionless and colorless ROADM technology, along with the company’s multi-layer GMPLS-based RAYcontrol control plane, will do the trick, ADVA Optical Networking states.

“We have worked with ADVA Optical Networking for many years now so they understand the unique needs of a long-haul research and education network,” said Maciej Stroinski, technical director of PSNC. “We needed a cost-effective way to deliver more bandwidth to the researchers and scientists. Having a small team and limited resources, it was imperative that we have a high level of automation without operational complexity. Using the FSP Service Manager, we are now able to set-up high-speed services on demand, offering network users throughout Poland access to the content and applications they need, at any time and from anywhere on all-optical links of distances up to 3,000 km.”

“PSNC has designed a unique network that aids scientists, students, and researchers, providing them a communication infrastructure they can depend on,” said Stephan Rettenberger, vice president, marketing, ADVA Optical Networking. “This dynamic network propels their scientific work and international collaboration, ensuring they will never be held back by technology. Distance learning applications, virtual laboratories, online study groups using multimedia streams, and remote virtualization tools are now accessible throughout Poland. PSNC sets a great example in building forward-looking solutions that address tomorrow’s challenges. Through colorless and directionless ROADMs and a GMPLS-enabled control plane, PSNC has the flexibility to instantly set up optical links between any nodes. This automated technology combines massive scalability with great ease-of-use, ensuring the network has what it needs to continue being one of Europe’s largest and most innovative research networks.”

Installation and maintenance work is being carried out by the Polish systems integrator, ALMA.

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